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39th Slayer
39th Slayer is a Slayer and the primary antagonist of Journey to Rooted Hold. Biography Early Life 39th Slayer was one of fifty experimental creatures that the Rooted Empire had created to seek out and destroy targeted abovegrounders. He was originally the forty-second created, but when the group was led out of the Holding Vats, two other Slayers who had suffered unforeseen defects walked off a bridge and died immediately, thus promoting him to 40th Slayer. The slayers were then put through a series of rigorous tests to verify that their endurance and behavior met expectations. In one test, 40th and 26th Slayers were in a course designed to test their tracking abilities. A guard had volunteered to participate in the test by acting like a trespassing abovegrounder. The test proceeded well until the guard accidentally triggered an orb earlier than intended. This trapped 26th Slayer but allowed 40th the opportunity to pursue the guard himself. However, in his frenzy, he struck a bomb and killed 26th, a feat no Slayer had yet managed. The test was immediately stopped, but the accident had already promoted him to 39th Slayer. By this point, the Slayers had formed a crude society in which a Slayer's most recent kill determined his social status. Given the egotistical nature of Slayers, they obviously placed killing one of their own as the most distinctive assassination possible. This elevated 39th socially above any other Slayer in their society, even above 1st Slayer. In fact, 1st was so impressed with 39th's actions that he was willing to relay a question to the Asking Chambers. 39th's question was "How can I go about living forever?", which was replied to with "Try again later." To this day, Imperial philosophers still cannot fathom the answer's meaning. Journey to Rooted Hold 39th Slayer first appeared on the Third Level, teaching a class of trainee citizens. Beethro Budkin arrived some days later which prompted 39th to use him as a demonstration on the most efficient way of killing abovegrounders. 39th initially believed Beethro would be easy prey, but he soon found that the smitemaster could defend himself quite handily, and could even put the Slayer on the defensive. 39th then called his subordinate to teach the class while he pursued Beethro personally. Beethro turned out to be especially difficult, and the two battled for many weeks down many levels. Realizing that Beethro was quickly approaching the High Path where it would be much harder to fight him, 39th Slayer reluctantly called in the Poppy Brigade for the additional sword arms. However, Beethro remained unbeatable, and so in desperation, 39th forced him into a room where one of the two had to die for the other to escape. 39th Slayer warned Beethro that he would find no answers in the Rooted Empire, but Beethro ignored him and did manage to kill him. The City Beneath 39th Slayer appeared in Beethro's memory while pondering what job to take from the Naming Office. Beethro recalled the scene of his death vividly but could not remember anything the Slayer had said. Nevertheless, Beethro remembered that a Slayer was missing and applied to become one. The Slayer who became 39th Slayer after the demise of the original 39th Slayer also appears in The City Beneath. He speaks a few lines at the Slayers' Conference, and is killed along with all the other Slayers. Behavior 39th Slayer moves identically to his generic counterpart, the Slayer. His only distinguishing features are a different voice set and a unique portrait. Unlike Slayers, only one 39th Slayer unit can be placed in the room. Trivia *It is possible to defeat the 39th Slayer in a room not designated for you to do so. Doing this awards a challenge as complete, and in the Steam versions of the game, an achievement. Category:Antagonists Category:Characters